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A lot of people are asking a lot of questions about the Vegas shooting. Most fall into one of three camps: A) you think all “conspiracy theories” are ridiculous, unfounded, and that we should just believe what we are told; B) you have looked at the facts presented and are coming up with some very legitimate questions because in many cases the narrative doesn’t match evidence; or C) you have totally gone off the deep end entertaining theories that make even less sense than the official narrative.

For all of you who wonder what in the world all the debate is about, I’m going to break down the information we have available to us such as: police scanner audio, maps so that you can follow along with what the police are talking about in the scanner audio, cell phone video of the events as they unfolded, witness interviews, waveform audio of the gunshots, and you can come to your own conclusions. In my opinion, the primary question that surfaces from an analysis of this information is: Does the evidence appear to point to a lone gunman or multiple shooters? Any other theories floating around out there about motives cannot be definitively determined from any information that I’ve seen so far.

The following is NOT a complete transcript of the police scanner audio, although I have provided the full links for those who would like to listen to it. Instead, I have listed quotes of interest. I have noted the approximate time for each quote so that you can listen for yourself. Please keep in mind while listening to and/or reading these quotes that every single quote that you hear an officer utter DOES NOT mean that that particular information is correct. These officers ran into a chaotic scene and they are voicing their perception of events at that particular time, from their particular point of view. As the events unfold, new information obviously leads the officers to conclusions that may differ from what they originally perceived to be occurring. At the same time, the original perception of these officers is certainly valuable when compared to other evidences.

It should be noted that during the entirety of this audio, the LVPD treat this incident as a multiple shooter situation. It is now the official stance of the LVPD, in hindsight review of the situation, that there was a single shooter only, though he most likely had outside help in planning.

Here is a map to help you visualize the initial situation.

First scanner audio recording:

:56- “Shots are coming from Mandalay Bay halfway up.”

Upon entry this officer believes shots are coming from halfway up Mandalay. We now know from video that the reason he believes this is because he sees what appears to be muzzle fire coming from that area. There are multiple videos documenting this. You can see it clearly in this clip of the cab driver’s video:

1:12- “We have an active shooter inside the fair grounds.”

3:45- “Control be advised I have shots coming from Gate 7.”

File this quote away for later. Note from this venue map that there is no labeled “Gate 7.” You will notice, however, that there are 2 gates labeled “Gate 2”. If we re-number the gates chronologically, the gate labeled “6” on the venue map would become gate 7. This is entirely my own speculation given scanner audio and the venue map. Regardless, this bit of information becomes interesting in light of later scanner audio.

5:36- “flashes in the middle of Mandalay Bay on the North side, kind of on the West tower but towards the center”…”one of the middle floors.”

Again, this officer is seeing the flashes we’ve got video of and at this time believes they are muzzle flashes.

6:20- I’m inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor. I can hear the automatic fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us.”

7:00- “flashing coming from about 1/3 of the way up, center tower Mandalay Bay.”

14:03- “I haven’t seen any flashes from Mandalay but if it’s coming from Mandalay there is a strobe light coming from one of those windows on the east side.”

Ok, here we have an officer clarifying that the flashing light everyone is seeing is coming from a strobe light. There is video of this blue strobe light flashing both before and after the shooting. Here is one such video:

To be fair, I’ve seen some individuals claiming that the blue strobe is coming from a different window than the white and orange flashing light that everyone is reporting as muzzle fire.However, I personally have been unable to discern that from watching the videos. These people also note that some lower floor windows are service windows that do in fact open, however I have been unable to confirm this.

One thing that DOES bother me about this is the explanation (given by an investigator featured on Hannity) that this flashing light is a reflection of actual muzzle fire from the 32nd floor reflected in the mirrored glass. First of all, it would be all but impossible to imagine a scenario in which light from the shooter’s 32nd floor windows could be reflected in only one window on the 10th or 15th floor. Second, I have not seen one video surface yet of muzzle fire coming from the 32nd story windows. How is light that is not present reflecting on a lower window? The lack of muzzle fire from the 32nd floor windows can be viewed in multiple videos. Here’s a particularly good one:

14:45- “We’re getting from civilians saying there might have been 3 shooters.”

It’s impossible to learn anything from this quote. The officer doesn’t say why the people thought there were 3 shooters. Did they think they heard three distinctive guns or see gunfire originating from differing angles? Did they visually see three possible gunmen? We don’t know.

14:55- “We’ve interviewed multiple people in concert venue that is on the north side of Hacienda, east side of Las Vegas Blvd saying there are multiple people who have been shot or were shooting in the concert venue.”

15:35- “I’m in the stairwell on the 32nd floor…I’m on the 32nd floor, the room is going to be 135.”

16:45- Dispatch- “Just confirming that Mandalay Bay 32nd floor room 1-3-5.” Officer responds, “That is affirmed. We have a 4 man element on the very end of the hall.”

17:40- “We’ve spoken to security at Mandalay Bay, they say they have shots fired on 29th and 32nd levels.”

This one’s hard to explain. Mandalay security personnel report shots fired on both the 29th and 32nd levels.

18:00- “We’re coming out on the 32nd floor.”

18:20- “We have a security officer also shot in the leg on this 32nd floor. He’s standing right by the elevator.”

We now know that Paddock had cameras rigged so that he could see when police entered the hallway. This Mandalay security officer attempted to approach Paddock’s room after he heard shots fired and Paddock fired approximately 200 rounds through the door of his suite hitting the security guard in the leg. According to LVPD, the guard remained on the hallway by the elevators and subsequently helped them clear rooms on that level.

UPDATE 10/11/17: Currently LVPD has changed their story and timeline regarding the security guard. Now they assert the security guard was on the 32nd floor to investigate a fire door that was ajar 6 minutes prior to Paddock firing his first shots onto the crowd. Paddock saw the guard via his surveillance system and shot 200 rounds at him wounding him in the leg. MGM Resorts (which owns Mandalay Bay, however, disagrees with this timeline. They agree that the guard went to the 32nd floor to check the fire door and was fired upon. However, they add that a maintenance worker then joined the security guard and they were both fired upon. MGM then asserts that they sent an armed security force to the 32nd floor which arrived about he same time the LVPD arrived at the 32nd floor. By that point, Paddock had ceased firing upon the crowd. According to scanner audio, no one was present on the 32nd floor when they arrived except the wounded security guard by the elevator.

18:40- “He [Paddock] shot down the hallway and hit a security guard.”

– See description above.

18:50- “We’re going to have a blockade on the 32nd floor. We will need the 29th floor. It sounds like it’s confirmed there are at least two shooters with fully automatic weapons.”

This quote is troublesome. If you’ll note throughout the entire audio, time and again, nothing is CONFIRMED until it is 100% verified, not just reported. Here we have an officer noting 2 confirmed shooters- one on 29th and one on 32- both with automatic weapons. Make a mental note that we have one other “confirmed” report that is later dismissed later in the audio.

19:15- “See if we can get cameras watching that 32nd and 29th floor.”

26:10- “About 3 minutes ago a black dually unknown truck, looked like a Chevy, unknown occupied, ripped out of the parking lot east of Excalibur heading South to the Delano…keep an eye on it.”

No reports ever come across the scanner detailing if officers track down or investigate this vehicle.

29:15- “We have an 8 man element clearing the casino floor and one SWAT unit moving up to the 32nd floor right now.”

34:00- “Over by the Motel 6 by Tropicana there’s a white RV. I have pedestrians saying that the older white male in fatigues and a black bag went into the motor home…pedestrians say he came from the area of the shooting.”

– No resolution regarding this suspect is ever transmitted over the audio. RV location circled in red:

35:30- “There’s one WMA (white male adult) in black fatigues in a white RV off of Koval and Tropicana south of.”

36:18- “Giles and Alibaba, several casualties.”

Ok, now go back and reference the quote I told you to file away about shots coming from Gate 7. Hold on to these two quotes for a second and get a visual of this location in your mind. The area circled in red is the intersection of Giles and Alibaba.

37:00- “We believe its the northernmost room on the 32nd . Unknown where on the 29th or anywhere in between. We believe it’s the northernmost room on either side on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay.”

37:25- “We’re going to put a shotgun facing the RV that the suspect is supposed to be in. It’s going to be behind the Clarke Co Fire Dept engine.

38:30- “Confirming I have casualties at Alibaba and Giles east of the Catholic Shrine as well as in the Mandalay Bay. So we have 2 scenes.”

Ok, here is where you should take the quote from the officer about shots from Gate 7 and the quote from the Officer about casualties at Giles and Alibaba and apply them to this new information. This officer is CONFIRMING (again we’ve discussed how throughout this audio nothing is confirmed until verified) that there are 2 separate shooting scenes. One shooter in Mandalay Bay and apparently at Giles and Alibaba. Look at the photos above and ask a couple of things. 1. Could the shots fired from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay reach this intersection of Giles and Alibaba? 2. Are there casualties in between the two areas to indicate one continuous scene or are they two distinct scenes separated by significant space? I noted above that there is no Gate 7 labeled on the venue map. Was the officer mistaken about what gate he was at? Or, was there another Gate at the venue that isn’t labeled on the venue map? If this is the case, where would Gate 7 be located according to the gate numbers already indicated? It seems logical that a Gate 7 could have been located somewhere near this intersection of Giles and Alibaba. According to the venue map, Gate 5 backs up to Giles/Alibaba. Nothing can be confirmed, but these are legitimate questions based on the information that we have.

39:15- “Zebra (team on 32nd floor) I need to know if we have that floor evacuated other than the suspects. We’ve got snipers going up here soon, so I need to know if that’s evacced.” Officer replies, “Well, that’s going to be a negative. Nothing has been evacced…We’re still clearing floor 31.”

41:05- “I need someone at Reno and Tropicana, we might have a possible.”

The yellow highlighted streets are Reno and Tropicana. Very close proximity to the intersection of Giles and Alibaba:

41:30- “I have a 5 man team going to floor 2.”

41:50- “Please be advised, there is a subject on the heli-pad.”

43:10- “FYI, we’re posted on Koval just north of the target RV at Tropicana, there’s two of us here.”

43:20- “Floor 31 is clear, we’re moving up to 32 with the other team.”

43:45- “We’re going out on a possible right at the side of Motel 6. There’s 3 of us here.”

45:10- “Confirming the Mandalay Bay and Alibaba/Giles are the two shooting locations. Do we have a 3rd?

Again, more communication confirming two shooting locations and asking if a 3rd has been confirmed. No response is ever recorded regarding this question.

47:00- “Have we confirmed with Luxor that nobody heard shots over there? When we were getting shot at we wanted that checked.”

This is two officers that were on the festival grounds. They are asking to confirm that no shots were fired from Luxor because they thought that there were when they were on the ground getting shot at. The Luxor is labeled on the map at the introduction of this article. It’s the pyramid.

55:25- “Please be advised, subject has a possible suspect pinned down at Industrial and Circus.”

Nothing is ever referenced regarding this on the rest of the scanner audio. This location is circled in red.:

57:30- “We have reports of possible shots fired inside NYNY.”

-NYNY is circled in red:

58:55- “We’re getting a 415a (assault with a gun) the advisor was a shooter at the front desk. NYNY. And everyone is in the kitchen.”

– Sounds like pretty specific information. File this one away.

59:18- “Hey a citizen just advised me a vehicle, black Audi, in the valet at the Luxor possibly has a 445 (bomb), she said it has wires sticking out so don’t let any officers go through the valet at Luxor.”

59:50- “We are getting people saying that there is someone at NYNY.”

1:00:59- “At NY they are advising the active shooter’s possibly coming down the escalator from NYNY to Excalibur.”

1:04:35- “There’s approximately 150 subjects sheltered in place inside the kitchen area there. And two shots were fired inside casino floor…there is several subjects down at NYNY/Zumaniti.”

Again, very specific information on NYNY incident- 2 shots fired. Add this to the mental file.

1:05:05- “No answer from NY security.”

– Trying to confirm with NY security, but no answer.

1:05:13- “Send, if there’s not already 2 strike teams in route, send 2 strike teams in route, they need to advise their call signs, and we need update as soon as they get there.”

1:06:30- “Whoever is responding to NYNY from the control side, I need somebody to get the cameras to verify whether this is a diversion.”

First mention by officers that these reports might possibly be diversions to attract attention away from the main event at Mandalay. Make another mental file for this.

1:06:54- “ Ok now I’m getting information on an active shooter at Tropicana.”

1:07:10- “Advise there is an active shooter at Tropicana, active shooter at Tropicana.”

1:07:20- “Entering NYNY with a strike team.”

1:07:42- “I’m outside Tropicana, we’re not hearing any 434’s this could be a diversion.”

1:09:20- “Referencing Tropicana they’re advising there was a hispanic male, dark skin with an afro, unknown clothing with a backpack. Said he squatted in the driveway of Hooters and looks like a suspect.”

1:10:55- “We have a set (? hard to hear clearly) on the suspect’s door. I need for everyone in that hallway to be aware of it and get back. We need to pop this and see if we can get a response from this guy…see if he’s in here or if he’s moved on somewhere else.”

1:11:06- “All units on the 32nd floor, SWAT has explosive breach. Everyone in the hallway needs to move back. All units move back.”

1:11:20- “Breach, breach, breach.”

1:12:00- “Reports from civilians shots just fired. Two shots in the park area of NYNY.”

– Matches the earlier report of 2 shots fired at NYNY.

1:12:12- “Be advised there are 2 shots fired in the park area of NYNY. Now they’re also saying one at Aria.”

1:12:20- “So far NYNY is clear, negative shots fired.”

Officers at NYNY report no shots were fired at NYNY. This is troublesome given the specific information given earlier in the audio.

1:13:15- “We’re sending 2 teams to Excalibur right now based on earlier detail.”

Remember, earlier ( at 1:00:59) they reported possible suspect running down escalator from NYNY to Excalibur.

Ok, time out. This is entirely different than possibly erroneous reports of gunfire from panicked civilians. Here you have EMT’s reporting that they’re being shot at. The EMT’s are located at Tropicana. File this away. The Tropicana location is circled in purple:

1:13:55- “We have a strike team available send them to the Tropicana.”

1:14:12- “We are clearing this room. We have one suspect down.” (This is the team at Paddock’s room)

1:14:30- “We need the air clear for Zebra 20 (team at Paddock’s), they have one suspect down inside the room.”

1:15:20- “We made contact inside the Tropicana. They are reporting negative shots fired.”

Ok. Let’s stop here a minute. Here we have an officer reporting that there were no shots fired at Tropicana. Remember, shots here were not only reported by civilians, but by EMT’s on scene who reported that they were being shot at. This becomes especially interesting in light of this witness interview:

At the 13:15 mark, this man says that he saw shell casings on the ground inside the festival grounds AND at the entrance of the back door of the Tropicana. For those who may not be aware, the presence of shell casings would be an absolute confirmation of an active shooter in that specific vicinity. Shell casings from shots fired from the 32nd floor of Mandalay would not be found inside the concert venue grounds, much less over at the Tropicana.

1:16:00- “There is one down, 32nd floor Mandalay Bay.”

1:16:40- “Reports of shots being fired at the Aria appear unfounded at this time.”

1:16:52- Zebra 20: “We have another explosive breach going on to get into an adjoining room. Going to be going off in about 5 seconds.”

Security at NYNY is now apparently saying there were no shots fired. Remember, we had quite a specific set of information given regarding shots at NYNY- the shots occurred on the casino floor, there were 2, people fled to shelter in the kitchen. Now we’re hearing that there were no shots fired there.

1:19:30- “Please be advised now we’re getting shots fired at Caesar’s and Bellagio.”

1:20:18- Zebra 20: “We do not need anyone else up on this floor. (Partially inaudible) have two breaches, we also have one shot officer that did fire. Negative injuries on anybody else.”

It’s hard to understand from this particular communication, but it appears that Paddock possibly shot an officer that was entering the room before killing himself. Sheriff Lombardo has confirmed in subsequent interviews that an officer was shot in the leg.

16:05- “Lets get some arriving units at Flamingo and the Blvd trying to get this guy to stop him from going north anymore.”

It appears from this communication that an active shooter has potentially been seen fleeing Paris. Security officers have apparently tried to point out his location to the officers in Paris, but they were unable to find him. At this point, dispatch sends officers north to intercept him.

Here we have audio confirming that no shots were fired at Bellagio. However, this Bellagio guest and witness tells a different story and Bellagio staff appears to confirm what she is saying. Her video was removed from youtube. However, this video includes her video. Her actual video begins at around the 6:25 mark. Her conversation with the Bellagio staff member begins around the 9:57 mark.

UPDATE 10/11/17: Rene (the Bellagio guest who shot the FB live video above) has given her testimony in the following interview. The information that she reveals is nothing short of shocking. Her husband is retired military. She describes their experience from the glass shattering automatic gunfire into the Bellagio, to taking shelter with other guests in a rear hallway of Bellagio, to being restricted from entering the area where clean up crews were working feverishly to restore the lobby area, to checking out the next morning when Bellagio management told her there had been no shots fired at Bellagio the night before. This is an interview you won’t want to miss:

18:43- Dispatch to team at Paris- “Are you still hearing 434’s?” (illegal shots fired) Officer responds, “Sorry, there were reports of 434 but I’ve got people running everywhere.” Dispatch- “Ok, are YOU hearing 434’s actively right now?” Officer- “Negative, negative.”

19:50- “I have two teams, we’re coming in the main valet of the Paris right now.”

23:30- Zebra 20- “Copy some information, a potential name possibly related with the suspect. It was a players card out on the countertop next to the wallet of the suspect that’s (? inaudible). It’s an MLife Platinum card with the name of Marilou Danley.

24:40- It looks like that name I gave you shares an address with the subject.”

25:38- “I am strike team 3. I am still in NYNY. I know negative shots fired but we’re still clearing. We have multiple witnesses here as well as people are down on the ground, not shot, just sheltering in place.”

Apparently still calming people down who are sheltering in place even though subsequent reports indicated no shots occurred.

26:05- “Please be advised there’s a male walking into the Bellagio.”

– Bellagio is on lock down at this point. No one should be entering or exiting.

30:45- “We have 3 armored cars that are at Russell and Las Vegas Blvd. They are not affiliated with law enforcement, but the Sargeant called them from Battlefield Las Vegas and they’re awaiting their orders.”

Battlefield Las Vegas is a 5 acre military style complex outdoor training area. You can shoot various US and foreign weapons from their collection in a realistic military setting. They have fire arms dating from WWI all the way to weapons used by NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. (www.battlefieldvegas.com)

Dispatch responds, “They’re gonna go to south central air command. We’ve been advised south central that they are in route.”

31:27- “We’ve got a citizen advising that a Ford Superduty dually white pick-up truck with the plate 444-XLM pulled up and a guy with a rifle got out and ran northbound.”

35:55- “Update on the Mandalay Bay command. The casino floor is secured, subjects have been cleared off of casino floor. Now we are being told that there’s no additional injured inside the hotel, and we still have subjects upstairs.”

36:43- “We’re getting intel that possibly a white male in a black t-shirt with a long rifle is going into nightclubs and areas and clearing people out. He may be the one causing all the pandemonium…Last seen at the Chateau probably about 20 minutes ago.”

Ok, I’m assuming this is the same guy that they are referring to in the 31:27 communication. Note they said his last known location was the Chateau (nightclub at the Paris) about 20 minutes ago. Remember, the Paris is where shots were reported fired and security tried to point out to officers where the guy ran and they couldn’t find him? Then they sent officers north to try to intercept him. If you’ll also remember, Paris subsequently reported no shots fired after all. Now we’re hearing this guy was there. This guy is not mentioned again in the scanner audio.

43:18- “415a now Bellagio PR (?) is hearing a lot of shots being fired.”

New report of shots at Bellagio.

43:52- “Please be advised a 415a Bellagio, PR’s hearing a lot of shots being fired, not seeing anyone. They’re on the 1st floor and whispering…and now she’s saying suspects are inside with her and she’s whispering to not talk.”

Seems like this person is definitely convinced she has heard shots and is in the presence of the shooter. So much so that she’s hiding and whispering. Honestly, you can go either way with this. Seems like surely she’d know what she was talking about considering she’s apparently hiding and whispering. Then again, I can say that I personally know people, that if they recounted this story to me, I would not believe. Not knowing the individual reporting this, there’s no way to assign weight to her report.

44:50- “Units reference the Bellagio’s going to be negative 415a and that’s per security.”

Security says the there’s nothing to the this woman’s report. Again, no way to know.

49:53- “Control can you copy any update on the 445 (possible bomb in Audi at Luxor)… The plate’s gonna be AC0027 Nevada. Newer model black SUV. The car was dropped off at 2213 hours in the valet in front of Luxor. 4 individuals got out. 4 males. Descriptions: 1st is a AMA (Asian male adult), beige shirt and green shorts. 2nd ‘s an AMA black shirt, khaki shorts. 3rd is an AMA with a yellow and black shirt and khaki shorts. 4th is a WMA (white male adult) with a t- shirt and dark shorts, a hat and a beard.”

53:20- “We have a possible behind the trashcan on CVS north of Monte Carlo. We’re calling them out now. It’s a possible, lot of weapons.”

55:30- “We’ve got 2 in custody, taking the 3rd one into custody now. Still compliant.”

Apparently, amid all of these reports of suspicious individuals and possible shooters, these three individuals are actually taken into custody. We have no idea who they are. Do they fit the descriptions of any of the other possible suspects that have been described? I have also never seen NVPD sheriff mention any individuals taken into custody in any press conference. It’s possible that they had nothing to do with anything and were dismissed.

1:00:50- “Is there a unit that can be in route to Mirage? There’s a female calling in whispering. She thinks there’s a shooter there on the 7th floor of the garage.”

– Another weird report similar to the one at Bellagio. Again, we get no further info.

No significant traffic after this point.

An analysis of this information reveals that there some very legitimate issues.

It cannot be definitively determined if there was indeed only one shooter.

Troubling evidence exists casting doubt on the NVPD’s position that no shots were fired from alternate locations.

Even if you give the mainstream narrative the benefit of the doubt and say that there was only one shooter, there appeared to be a somewhat coordinated attempt to create diversions by reporting multiple shots fired from other casinos. Who would do this and why?

I’d like to provide you with 2 videos of 2 separate individuals performing a sound wave analysis of the shots fired based on various witness videos of the event. Both seem to come to the conclusion that it is very difficult to say definitively that there was only one shooter. Furthermore, they both seem to agree that if there was only one shooter there are some very difficult to explain portions of audio.

To end, I will just say that whatever conclusion you come to given all this information, we can probably all agree that when it comes to our government and the FBI it’s best to have a healthy skepticism of what we are told.

As a Christian parent, have you ever wondered how science class ended up being the battle ground for the age old controversy of where life began? Were we created by an omnipotent being or did life spontaneously erupt from a primordial cocktail? If you take offense to the idea that a child should be taught the concept of life originating from a Creator, then you should also be offended by the idea that a child should be taught that all life is descended from a single cell organism- and vice versa. Even more difficult to fathom, is how we have arrived at the place where our children are taught that the secular theory of evolution is a confirmed fact and creation science is labeled a religious fanatic’s fairy tale, a “pseudoscience”.

The truth is we’ve all been sold a lie. That lie is that secular scientists have no bias. That secular science merely evaluates the evidence and allows that evidence to propel sound theory. We are told that creation science, on the other hand is unavoidably corrupted by the belief in a Creator. That the underlying belief in a Creator taints and warps a creation scientist’s understanding of this mutually shared evidence, leading to biased and unprovable theories of life as we know it. We are told that secular science deals in reality and creation science deals in myth- end of story.

To be totally honest, I am in agreement on at least two counts: creation science yields theories that are biased due to its foundational belief in a Creator, and the theories that are put forth to explain the existence of life as we know it cannot be confirmed.

However, I also believe that we are deluded if we believe that secular science doesn’t suffer from the same handicap. Secular science has its own obvious and detrimental bias. Its theories are corrupted by the foundational belief that life did not begin with a Creator. And, just like creation science, the theories that are offered up to explain the existence of life as we know it cannot be (and contrary to popular belief) have not been confirmed. If you question that last statement, I hope you’ll read the following posts from my blog: Did the Human Genome Project Confirm Evolution, and Evidence for Darwin’s “Descent of Man”: Mountain or Molehill?

Fundamental truth: Secular science vehemently and dogmatically denies the existence of a Creator with the same fervor in which creation science vehemently and dogmatically declares the existence of a Creator. Secular science has become a religion in its own right. A religion dedicated to denying the existence of a Creator at all costs.

Which science is better? From a logical standpoint, the only answer is neither. Given these truths, secular science and creation science can only be considered equals. But where does that leave science class? How are we to accurately apply the separation of church and state when it comes to what our children are taught about the scientific evidences and theories for the origin of life? If the government bans either theory from the classroom, it has made a law respecting the establishment of a particular religion- a blatant violation of the first amendment. Yet, that is exactly what has occurred.

So, how have we come to a place where creation science is legally banned from the classroom and evolution is taught as fact? Christian, the truth of the matter is, historically, we own a share of the blame. A series of court decisions over the last century have shaped the policies that govern how our children are educated today. Unfortunately, these court decisions have warped the application of separation of church and state.

To get a good historical understanding we have to go all the way back to the 1920’s. Darwin’s writings were very well established and had become generally accepted in biology. As a consequence, they were being incorporated into school curricula. Teachers were beginning to unionize and the National Education Association had recommended that the states align their standards nationally. To this end, states began making science class a mandatory requirement and many textbooks were addressing evolution.

At the same time, there was a rise in what began to be called “religious fundamentalism”. The term “religious fundamentalism” was actually coined in the 20’s, and it referred to the strict adherence to certain fundamental concepts of Christian faith, including the literal interpretation of the Bible.

These fundamentalists had a big problem with Darwin’s theory of evolution being taught to their children in science class. After all, the idea of the origin of life being credited to anything other than God is a direct contradiction to the Genesis creation account. In order to keep evolution out of the classroom many states began considering laws that would ban it from being taught.

At first glance, one is tempted to be judgemental of the “fundamentalists” of the 20’s for taking up a crusade to prevent the theory of evolution being taught alongside creationism. To bring a little context to the situation, however, this is an excellent place to insert a excerpt from the textbook in question, William Hunter’s A Civic Biology Presented in Problems, published in 1914: This paragraph is taken from the section titled The Races of Men, “If we follow the early history of man upon the earth, we find that at first he must have been little better than one of the lower animals…At present time there exist upon the earth five races or varieties of man and the highest type of all, the Caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America.”

This is the perfect example of the fact that the theory of evolution, definitely in its beginning, was unabashedly racist. I can’t imagine that even the most progressive agnostic or atheist today would approve of this very obviously unscientific information being included in a science text intended for educational purposes. Many will cry foul, and claim that religion, and the Bible in particular, have contributed to racist sentiment. However, it should be noted that any Christian harboring racist beliefs does so without any biblical corroboration. The creation account in Genesis makes clear that we are ALL descended from the same two people- Adam and Eve. Race is never even mentioned in the Bible. Today, the theory of evolution has divorced its racist roots.

This just goes to show that issues are not always black and white. Today, we can look back (with our new and improved, non- racist, theory of evolution) and proclaim that these Christians had no right to ban the secular creation account from the classroom. However, these “fundamentalists” were not dealing with the new and improved theory of evolution. They were dealing with a version that is even less compelling than the one espoused today.

It is true that religious individuals didn’t want their children being taught a curriculum that would cause them to question their faith, but it was not a cut and dry religious issue as secular history would recount, it was more complicated than that. I mentioned earlier that strides were being taken to move toward a national education standard. While a national standard of education certainly has its benefits, parents in the 20’s had an underlying issue- they didn’t want to give the government full control over what was taught in public schools. After all, public schools are funded by public tax dollars. Parents wanted to be sure they had a say in what was taught, rather than relinquishing control to the government.

So, in January of 1925, the Butler Act was introduced in the state of Tennessee and it was passed as law in March of the same year. This law established a $100- $500 fine for teaching evolution.

In response to anti-evolution laws, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) began to publicly advertise that they were looking for a “test case” to challenge the validity of these laws. The ACLU advertised that they would defend anyone accused with violating these anti-evolution laws.

In the small, economically struggling town of Dayton, Tennessee, a group of civic leaders read one such ad in a Chattanooga newspaper and hatched a plan while sitting at the table in Fred E. Robinson’s Drug Store where they met regularly.

Photos from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville digital library: https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/scopes%3A1319#page/2/mode/2up

Hoping to resuscitate their ailing town with the influx of tourists and attention that a high profile trial would bring, this group of men enlisted John T. Scopes (a 24 year old college graduate who had taught algebra and physics for one year at Rhea County High School) to be the center of a trial hosted in their city. Scopes was chosen because he was well liked, and he didn’t have a family whose livelihood would be threatened if he ended up losing his job. Scopes recalled that while substituting in a science class the prior April, he had done an exam review out of the state approved biology book (Hunter’s “A Civic Biology”) and thought he had probably gone over the chapter on evolution. (Scopes later refuted this statement.) Scopes agreed to play along and this telegram was sent to the ACLU:

“Professor JT Scopes, teacher of science Rhea County high school, Dayton, Tenn will be arrested and charged with teaching evolution. Consent of superintendent of education for test case to be defended by you. Wire me collect if you wish to cooperate and arrest will follow.”

Photo of John T. Scopes

Secular history tends to glaze over this point, but it’s important to highlight the fact that this trial did not arise organically from Tennessee citizens who felt oppressed by the fact that evolution was being banned in the classroom. The ACLU was shopping for a test case and the civic leaders of the town of Dayton had ulterior motives for volunteering. It should be noted that although Scopes himself did not agree with the Butler Act, he was not atheist or agnostic. He, like many others, did not believe that the theory of evolution was necessarily incompatible with the Bible.

The ACLU agreed and Scopes was arrested on May 7, 1925. He was immediately released on $1,000 bond paid by the ACLU, so he never spent any time in jail. The trial that resulted is sometimes called the most famous trial in history and became a circus comparable to the legendary Barnum and Bailey.

The Scopes Monkey Trial

Rhea County Courthouse in 1925

The town of Dayton pulled out all the stops to prepare for what they hoped would be an onslaught of visitors. They formed a Scopes Trial Entertainment Committee which presided over the building of a tourist camp to accommodate visitors, added an outdoor speaking platform to the courthouse, added camera platforms inside the courthouse to accommodate reporters, turned Dayton’s main road into a festival ground complete with vendor stalls, relabeled the constables motorcycle the “monkeyville police”, businesses hung pictures of monkeys and apes in their windows, Fred Robinson’s drug store began serving “simian sodas”, and a famous chimpanzee dressed in a suit and bow tie was flaunted around town. Evangelists from all over came to Dayton to preach about the evils of evolution.

The Scopes Trial was the first trial to be broadcast nationwide and it was also filmed for newsreels that were distributed to movie theaters. Two of the most famous lawyers of the era prepared to face off:

William Jennings Bryan, an outspoken Christian and famed orator, was the prosecuting attorney. He was the leader of the Democratic party for 25-30 years and had run for president on the Democratic ticket three times. Bryan had served as secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson. Lest you erroneously equate Bryan’s outspoken Christianity with conservatism (a common trait in politics today), as secretary of state Bryan proved himself to be a true liberal progressive of his day by establishing the Federal income tax, downgrading the nation from the gold standard, championing minority rights and women’s sufferage, and establishing minimum wage, the departments of labor, health, education, and welfare just to name a few. (Not that some of these things weren’t good ideas at the time. Instead, they are prime examples of how good intentions can balloon into monstrosities.)

The famous attorney, Clarence Darrow, represented the defense. Darrow was an outspoken agnostic and critic of fundamentalism. He defended a lot of unpopular people and radical causes. Most notably, was his defense of Leopold and Loeb, two young men found guilty of murdering a young boy in what was called a “thrill killing” (just for the fun of it) in an effort to commit the perfect crime. Darrow kept them from getting the death penalty.

Darrow pictured left, and Bryan pictured right

Many aspects of society were completely different as compared to today, but one commonality shared is the media bias that was portrayed. Political cartoons of the day portrayed the favorable attention given to Darrow versus the mocking afforded to Bryan.

Political cartoon portraying Bryan as so naive that Darrow has to tell him Santa isn’t real.

Here Bryan is portrayed as “Don Quixote” taking up a pointless battle against the “windmill” of evolution.

The only legal question in the trial was whether or not Scopes had violated the Butler Act. However, both sides knew that this was a “test case” and ultimately Scopes’ guilt or innocence meant nothing.

These were the objectives of each side given in Bryan and Darrow’s own words:

Bryan: “First, to establish the right of the taxpayers to control what is taught in schools. Second, to draw a line between the teaching of evolution as a fact and teaching it as a theory. Third, to see that any teacher that might be found guilty of this offense should be given an opportunity to resign.”

*** Notice, Bryan states that his main goal is to place the control over what is taught in the hands of the public and designating that evolution is theory and not to be confused with fact. Interestingly, this is the same thing that most of us would like to achieve today- evolution taught alongside creationism, both as theories. Science class is not the place for indoctrination from either side of this argument. ***

Darrow (per his autobiography “The Story of My Life”): “My object and my only object, was to focus the attention of the country of the program of Mr. Bryan and the other fundamentalists in America.”

*** Notice, Darrow’s goal, rather than aiming for equal treatment for both sides (a fulfillment of separation of church and state), is stated as the much more personal (and bitter, if I might add) intention of exposing the prevalent teachings of fundamentalism as indoctrination. The focus of “religion vs science” was coming directly from Darrow. Even the ACLU viewed the Butler Act as an infringement on freedom of speech- not on freedom of religion.

As a matter of fact, due to Darrow’s repeated insults aimed at the judge and the jury, he was held in contempt of court.

Today, we would all laugh at Darrow’s entire presentation of his case to validate the theory of evolution. First of all, instead of focusing on all life coming from a single primitive cell (the foundation of evolution), they equated evolution with embryology. This illustrates the fact that scientists of the day actually had no idea how evolution was supposed to work. Embryology is the the study of life forming from a single cell. A sperm cell enters an egg cell (called conception), the cells then divide repeatedly and result in a fully formed organism. They argued that this was what evolution was all about- if you believe this, then you believe in evolution. Today we know that the two are unrelated.

Although embryology highlights that life does indeed form from one cell, that one cell is species specific and always gives rise to its same kind. For example, dogs will always have dogs, cats will always have cats, etc. Obviously, this is not to say that natural selection does not lead to changes within a species (the emergence of different types of dogs, cats, horses, etc.) However, nowhere do we witness any evidence of a dog evolving into a cat or any “kind” evolving into any other “kind”. To this day, science has been unable to provide even one example of a transitional form. Darwin himself expected in the years following his theory that a preponderance of evidence for his theory would be unearthed in the fossil record. Over a century has passed and scientists are still looking for this proof.

The testimony of Darrow’s expert witnesses would be nothing less than embarrassing by today’s standards. They all equated evolution with embryology and when asked to define evolution, their responses are some of the most unintelligible rambling you’ve ever heard. If you’re interested in reading the transcript of the trial complete with these ramblings, you can view it in its entirety at this link: http://moses.law.umn.edu/darrow/trials.php?tid=7

Interestingly, all evidence entered as support of evolution in the trial has been discredited today. For example, a fossilized tooth was entered into evidence in support of the existence of “Nebraska Man” as a transitional ape-man. The tooth was later found to be a fossilized pig tooth.

Darrow’s initially planned tactic was to have multiple scientists testify as to the scientific validity of evolution. However, the judge would not allow the jury to hear the testimony of the scientists due to the fact that the validity of evolution had nothing at all to do with whether or not Scopes was guilty of breaking the law, which was the only purpose of the trial. So, the jurors were not allowed to hear the scientists and their expert testimonies were entered into court records by deposition. Faced with this formidable obstacle, Darrow came up with a brilliant and unconventional plan of attack. He got Bryan to agree to take the stand as an expert witness to defend the Bible.

Why the judge would agree to allow the validity of the Bible to be questioned when he rightly refused to allow testimony on the validity of evolution is beyond me. Neither had anything to do with the case. The result of the judge’s decision not to allow expert testimony on evolution or creation, was that the jurors had both accounts explained by lawyers in lieu of experts. This proved to be Bryan’s biggest and most detrimental mistake.

Bryan, although undoubtedly an intelligent and educated Christian, was most definitely not a Bible scholar. Darrow proceeded with a line of questioning that focused, first, on illustrating Bryan’s belief in a mostly literal interpretation of the Bible, second, highlighting many supernatural (and therefore scientifically unexplainable) biblical accounts, and third, pointing out Bryan’s imprecise and sometimes contradictory responses. Bryan himself, had a compromised fundamentalist belief at best. His belief in the day age theory as opposed to the 6 day creation account, and a local rather than global flood, among other things, rendered him incapable of providing a consistent defense of either creation or biblical inerrancy. Darrow was particularly adept at making a mockery of Bryan’s belief that the creation account can be understood to impart that creation occurred over millions of years as opposed to 6 literal 24-hour days. Darrow took Bryant to task, reading directly from the biblical creation account as it is written- with the terms “morning” and “night” to define what the term “day” means in context.

Inside the courtroom.

Bryan had agreed to take the stand believing that Darrow would take the stand as an expert on evolution the next day. Instead, Darrow came in the next day and instructed the jury to find his client guilty as charged which ended the trial. The jury returned 10 minutes later with a guilty verdict. Scopes, who never took the stand, was fined $100. The goal of the ACLU at that point (and the reason Darrow recommended that Scopes be found guilty) was to appeal the verdict, ideally all the way to the Supreme Court in a case that would find laws like the Butler Act unconstitutional nationwide. However, that never occurred. Scopes’ appeal was overturned in the Tennessee Supreme Court on a technicality, and the ACLU had nothing left to pursue.

Five days after the trial ended, William Jennings Bryan died in his sleep during an afternoon nap.

Tennessee, the city of Dayton, religious fundamentalism, and anti-evolution laws were mocked in the media.

Darrow was a brilliant man. He succeeded in duping the judge as well as the prosecution into framing the argument as “religion vs science” which set, what has proved to be, an inescapable legal precedent of equating creation science with the promotion of a particular religious belief as opposed to the equation of secular science with an unbiased, non-religious collection of facts. We still operate under this fallacy today.

While the theories presented by creation science do corroborate the Bible, the only aspects of creation science that have a place in the classroom are the evidences that point to a Creator as the origin of life- not theological interpretation of the Bible. By the same token, the only aspects of secular science that have a place in the classroom are the evidences that corroborate their theory of the origin of life- not a secular “theology” that claims the superiority of their unproven theories negate the existence of a Creator.

In the beginning, I stated that we Christians share in the blame for the legal battle over science class. I say this because of the early fundamentalist Christian’s refusal to allow secular science to have a voice in the classroom. The creationists were made to look like fools in the media, but the most devastating effects of the trial wouldn’t be felt for decades. Bryan was hands down outwitted by Darrow in a court case that set a biased legal precedent that proves insurmountable to this day.

Bryan’s death and the trial coverage had coalesced the anti-evolution movement into an entire social movement. Despite the negative media portrayal, many states tried unsuccessfully to introduce similar laws in the following years. Arkansas and Mississippi, however, did pass laws banning the teaching of evolution. Many textbook publishers quietly removed references to evolution from their textbooks. Attempts to repeal the Butler Act in Tennessee began in 1935, but they all failed. The Butler Act was on the books until 1967.

In 1955, a play based on the Scopes trial came out called Inherit the Wind. The play was made into a movie in 1960 and that movie was redone in 1990. However, neither the play or the movies are historically accurate. They portray the trial as a witch hunt carried out by lynch mobs of fundamentalists against Scopes, with no mention of the fact that the entire trial was a set up.

In fact, Scopes himself seemed to be bothered by his conscience and to take issue with the way the trial played out. In a recorded conversation with William K. Hutchinson of the International News Service that took place in the last days of the trial, Scopes said, “There is something I must tell you. It’s worried me. I didn’t violate the law…I never taught the evolution lesson…The kids they put on the stand couldn’t remember what I taught 3 months ago. They were coached by the lawyers.”

The Scopes Trial, historically, had an incredible effect on public education and the legal battles that have ensued in the years to follow. In Part 2 of this series, we’ll take a walk through the legal history that has resulted in cementing the fallacy that secular science is unbiased and creation science is a collection of unfounded myths. I’ll illustrate how the theory of evolution has been elevated to a fact protected by law, not on its scientific merit- but on its erroneously proclaimed non “religious” basis.

Before we begin, I’d like to stress that the intent of this article is not to condemn anyone regardless of whatever decision you make when weighing whether or not it is in your best interest to vaccinate your children or yourselves. Instead, it is my intention to arm you with more complete information with which to make your decision. Don’t take my word for it. I have linked every source (the majority of which are CDC, WHO, FDA, etc.) so that you can read and discern them for yourselves.

The first thing you need to know is that regardless of what you have been told, the science on vaccines is not and never was settled.

A.Despite CDC claims, our current vaccine scheduling regimen has not been adequately tested. The CDC says, “Following the recommended immunization schedule protects infants and children by providing immunity early in life, before they are exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases.” The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorses this statement. However, when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) investigated this claim in 2013 in response to parental concern over the vaccination schedule they were able to identify less than 40 scientific studies published since 2003 and noted, “First, the concept of the immunization “schedule” is not well developed in the scientific literature…Key elements of the immunization schedule- for example, the number, frequency, timing, order, and age at the time of administration of vaccines- have not been systematically examined in research studies.” (Institute of Medicine. The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholder Concerns, Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies. The National Academies Press 2013.)

B. Despite CDC claims, combining multiple vaccines in one visit has not been proven to be safe. “Although CDC recommends polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, rotavirus, flu B, and pneumococcal vaccines for two, four, and six month old infants, this combination of eight vaccines administered during a single physician visit was never tested for safety in clinical trials. This is at odds with a CDC report that found that mixed exposures to chemical substances and other stress factors, including prescribed pharmaceuticals, may produce ‘increased or unexpected deleterious health effects.” (Combining Childhood Vaccines at One Visit Is Not Safe, Neil Z. Miller)

C. The CDC recommended the TdaP vaccine to pregnant women prior to licensure of the vaccine,and does not even know for sure if the vaccine will protect newborns from pertussis as they claim: “In prelicensure evaluations, the safety of administering a booster dose of Tdap to pregnant women was not studied…The effectiveness and optimal consideration of maternal antipertussis antibodies in newborns are not yet known, but high levels of antibodies in the first weeks of life after birth likely confer protection and might prevent pertussis or modify disease severity.” (emphasis mine).(CDC. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, October 21, 2011) Incidentally, the FDA classifies TdaP a class C pregnancy drug which is defined as drugs in which “Animal reproduction studies have shown an adverse effect on fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in humans, but potential benefits may warrant use of drug in pregnant women despite potential risks.” (FDA Pregnancy Categories)

– Don’t miss this quote from the CDC in the above 10/21/11 report, “Because information on the use of Tdap in pregnant women was lacking, both manufacturers of Tdap established pregnancy registries to collect information and pregnancy outcomes from pregnant women vaccinated with Tdap. Data on the safety of administering Tdap to pregnant women are now available.” (emphasis is mine). The CDC tells you in black and white that they recommended a vaccine to you in which information was lacking though you were not informed that they did not have complete information.

– Rephrased: Uninformed women were used as guinea pigs in an undeclared trial.

– The very same scenario is occurring right now with respect to the Gardasil vaccine that the CDC currently recommends.

D. Heavy Metals used in Vaccines have not been found to be safe. Use of mercury in vaccines has been greatly decreased, however the use of aluminum has not decreased. A study in Pediatrics, which is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics states, “Aluminum is now being implicated as interfering with a variety of cellular and metabolic processes in the nervous system and other tissue.” Another group of researchers note, “Despite almost 90 years of widespread use of aluminum adjuvants, medical science’s understanding about their mechanisms of action is still remarkably poor. There is also a concerning scarcity of data on toxicology and pharmacokinetics of these compounds.” (Current Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 18, Number 17)

– Rephrased: They have been using aluminum and other heavy metals in vaccines for 90 years, yet do not know exactly how they affect your body. Concerns have now been raised that aluminum may very well be interfering with your nervous system.

E. Finally, regarding “settled science”, many pro-vaccine advocates cite lack of peer reviewed research in response to anti- vaccine data. For your further research, I have included a website containing links to several published vaccine safety studies citing major concerns: http://www.vaccines.net/newpage11.htm

2. Speaking of vaccine research, you need to know that massive conflicts of interest exist in this industry which must be weighted when examining the findings of these studies. Many people consider CDC or FDA findings to be unbiased and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

A. The CDC was authorized to accept funding in the form of industry“gifts” in 1983. “Despite the agency’s disclaimer, the CDC does receive millions of dollars in industry gifts and funding, both directly and indirectly, and several recent CDC actions and recommendations have raised questions about the science it cites, the clinical guidelines it promotes, and the money it is taking.” (British Medical Journal BMJ 2015;350:h2362)

-This act was passed because the FDA didn’t have enough researchers to review the number of new pharmaceuticals being submitted resulting in extensive lags in drug approvals. However, now we have created a conflict of interest in which the FDA accepts money from pharmaceutical companies and drugs are fast tracked to market. While the government denies the process could be corrupt, this claim defies both logic and history.

-An article appearing in the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics edited by Marc Rodwin and supported by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics states, “The authorization of user fees in 1992 has turned drug companies into the FDA’s prime clients, deepening regulatory and cultural capture of the agency. Industry has demanded shorter average review times and with less time to thoroughly review evidence, increased hospitalizations and deaths have resulted.

– Frankly, this revelation is a no brainer. You can’t even sit down to watch a 30 minute sitcom without seeing advertisements for class action lawsuits aimed at various pharmaceuticals which have injured or killed people. These were all approved by the FDA prior to prescription, and all were accompanied by peer reviewed research.

C. The pharmaceutical and health industries combined were the 3rd largest contributors in our last presidential election with Hillary Clinton benefiting the most, followed by Ted Cruz in 2nd place. This doesn’t include donations made by corporations. For example, Pfizer alone spent $10 million lobbying Congress last year. (Big Pharma’s Big Donations to 2016 Presidential Candidates, CNN)

D. Why don’t we see very many studies that are critical of vaccine safety? A British Medical Journal study concludes, “Jefferson’s analysis confirms that drug company’s marketing vaccines have a major influence on what gets published and is said about vaccines in medical journals. It is no wonder that there are almost no published studies in the medical literature that call into question vaccine safety.”

3. In 1986, the government passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act which protects vaccine manufacturers from vaccine injury lawsuits. Under this legislation the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) was created. It was created as an alternative to civil court lawsuit, giving partial liability protection to vaccine manufacturers, pediatricians, and other vaccine providers from civil liability for injuries and deaths caused by federally recommended childhood vaccines. (American Bar Association) In February of 2011, the US Supreme Court ruled in Bruesewitz vs Wyeth LLC, to grant the pharmaceutical industry total immunity from lawsuits even if they could have made a vaccine less harmful, because (per court docs) vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe”.

-Rephrased: If you or your child have suffered from a vaccine injury you have no legal recourse against vaccine manufacturers or the physician who recommended the vaccine. Instead you must file a petition with the US Court of Federal Claims where beaurocrats will decide if your claim should be submitted to the VICP which will determine if you deserve compensation. The Supreme Court doesn’t feel that vaccine manufacturers should be held responsible for dangerous vaccines even if the vaccine could have been made less dangerous because it is already impossible to make a vaccine that isn’t dangerous due to the fact that the ingredients required to be included in vaccines at this point are dangerous in and of themselves.

-The Health Resources and Services Association (HRSA) is required to release the amount of damages paid as settlements through the VICP. Current disclosures from the HRSA Data and Statistics report states that to date the VICP has paid out $3.6 billion in settlements for vaccine injury.

4. Vaccine injury is NOT just autism. Many studies are linking vaccines to Asperger’s, ADHD, autoimmune disorders, and food and digestive allergies. These are quickly becoming epidemics recognized by the CDC while they claim that they have no idea at this point what environmental factors are contributing to this trend. So far, no correlation is being considered based on the massive increase in childhood vaccinations (In 1983, there were 10 recommended vaccines by the age of 6 given in 24 doses, 7 injections, and 4 oral vs the 2016 schedule of 74 doses by age 17, 53 injections, and 3 oral.) Right now, hundreds more vaccines are in the pipeline to be added to future vaccination schedules.

A. According to this CDC study in Medical News Today, “the prevalence and incidence of autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, celiac disease, and type I diabetes is on the rise and researchers at the CDC are unsure why…Earlier studies have shown that genetics and environmental factors cause autoimmune disease…With the rapid increase in autoimmune diseases, it clearly suggests that environmental factors are at play due to the significant increase in these diseases. Genes do not change in such a short period of time.” (emphasis mine)

B. According to this CDC report in Food Allergy Research and Education, “the prevalence of food allergy in children increased by 50% between 1997 and 2011…Between 1997 and 2008, the prevalence of peanut or tree nut allergy appears to have more than tripled in US children…Childhood hospitalizations for food allergy tripled between the late 1990’s and the mid-2000’s… Compared to children who don’t have food allergy, children with food allergy are two to four times as likely to have other allergic conditions, such as asthma or eczema…1 in 13 children now have food allergies… There is no cure for food allergy.”

B. This article from Scientific American documents the 2016 mumps spike across the US. The CDC is quoted as reporting, “Vaccine coverage rates in the worst affected states of Arkansas, Illinois, and Iowa is generally high. All have two dose coverage rates around 90% or better” Janell Routh, a medical officer at the CDC makes three notable admissions: 1. “We know generally that mumps cases wax and wane over the years.” 2. “We don’t know the level of antibody required to stop a case of mumps in a person, so that question of knowing if a vaccine works less well over time is something we’re still working to investigate.” 3. We know the mumps vaccine is only 88% effective after 2 doses, so that means a certain portion of vaccinated people are still vulnerable.”

-Rephrased: Routh might as well have said due to the fact that mumps outbreaks are cyclical in nature on their own, and the fact that we are unsure of the levels of antibodies needed to protect a person from mumps, and that we know at least 12% of the population doesn’t respond to the vaccine at all, and that we don’t know how long vaccines are even effective after administered- we really can’t gauge the actual effectiveness of the mumps vaccine in eradicating mumps. (Instead, however, the CDC is recommending that we get a third MMR vaccine.)

C. Currently the CDC recommends that anyone who will come in contact with an infant receive the pertussis vaccine (you’ve probably seen commercials on TV urging you be vaccinated for pertussis for this reason- I’ve seen several), due to a strategy that is referred to as “cocooning”. The theory is that since newborns can’t receive the pertussis vaccine (cannot be given until 3 months old), if everyone who comes into contact with the infant is vaccinated the infant will not contract pertussis. The problem is this strategy has been proven ineffective- yet the US still recommends it. As a matter of fact the ACIP (panel of immunization experts that advise the CDC) acknowledges this (documented by the CDC in this morbidity report), “ACIP concluded that cocooning alone is an insufficient strategy to prevent pertussis morbidity and mortality in newborn infants.” Australia discontinued their pertussis “cocooning” program in 2012, yet the US continues despite knowledge that it is ineffective.

D. The CDC routinely admits that the flu vaccine has a low effectiveness rate that varies from year to year. According to this year’s CDC flu morbidity report the vaccine was 48% effective, however in the 2014-15 season the CDC reported that it was only 23% effective. Remember, you will not know how effective any particular year’s vaccine is until after the season is over. The CDC admitted in this seasons report, that the Flu Mist was not recommended at all due to ineffectiveness.

-Contrast this information with the fact that, “As of October 3, 2016, there had been 2,954 claims filed to VICP for injuries and deaths following the Influenza vaccine, including 109 deaths and 2,845 serious injuries.” (http://www.nvic.org/Vaccines-and-Diseases/Influenza.aspx) Despite this knowledge, flu vaccines are advertised ad nauseum and recommended by doctors consistently. You literally can’t check out at CVS without being offered one.

6. The dangers of the diseases we are vaccinating against are sensationalized to a degree, while adverse vaccine effects are vastly under reported to the VICP and VICP results are not readily broadcast to the public.

A. First you should know that when the World Health Organization (WHO) states mortality statistics regarding infectious diseases- they apply global statistics.

-Why does this matter? Take measles for example: The WHO says 122,000 people die globally from measles. The WHO also states that, “Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases…As high as 10% of measles cases result in death among populations with high levels of malnutrition and a lack of adequate health care…More than 95% of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and weak health infrastructures…Overcrowding in residential camps greatly increases the risk of infection.”

-Rephrased: Even in third world countries where children are severely malnourished, have weakened immune systems, very little access to health care, live in crowded and unsanitary conditions in which disease thrives- only 10% of children die from measles. 95% of the 122,000 measles deaths occur in these third world countries.

B. The complications of the diseases we vaccinate against vary widely. Mumps, measles,diphtheria, and polio absolutely have some very serious complications that can occur including death. Whereas rubella is virtually harmless to children. However, the CDC documents the percentage of occurrence of serious complications due to these diseases and most are surprisingly low. You can check out the various stats for the diseases at the links I have provided (be sure to note that global statistics are given in many instances as we noted earlier in the article):

Tetanus: Contracting tetanus as an infant is highly unlikely since it is not passed person to person and anaerobic.

C. Note that all of the serious complications that rarely arise in the above diseases are also listed as rarely occurring side effects of the vaccines against them PLUS additional serious complications NOT related to the diseases on their own.

-Note: TdaP includes risk of developing Guillan-Barre Syndrome, in which your immune system attacks your nervous system. This article in Mercola states, “In the United States, over half of the 2,480 compensation awards made under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which total more than $2 billion dollars, have involved brain inflammation and encephalopathy resulting in permanent brain damage associated with whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccine in DPT and DtaP shots.” (Note the figures are lower because the latest information I could find was from 2012 reports.)

D. Since 1990 there have been 6,058 serious adverse events reported to VAERS including 842 serious injuries and 140 deaths. There have been over 200,000 adverse effects reported (not necessarily serious). This is not a sufficient indicator of the adverse events however due to the fact that less than 10% of adverse effects are reported to VAERS. (http://www.nvic.org/reportreaction.aspx) Less than 10% are reported yet VICP has paid $3.6 billion since its inception!! Think about that.

-Why aren’t adverse effects being reported? Well, had you ever heard of VAERS before you read this article? I had never heard of it before I began the research for this article, and the fact is the majority of people aren’t aware of it. In my personal experience with the MMR vaccine, one of my 3 children broke out in a measles rash one day after being vaccinated. When I reported this to the pediatrician, he denied that the rash was in any way related to the vaccine received the day before. Begs the question how many reactions that parents report to pediatricians, that pediatricians do not report to VAERS.

Here is what becomes apparent upon research: The scientific community, medical community, and our government are aware that vaccines cause adverse effects (in varying degrees) in a significant portion of the vaccinated population. However, they do not know why. It could be due to individual, undetectable sensitivities to any number of the ingredients in vaccines. They do not know and have no way of discerning at this point who is vulnerable and to what degree (minor or severe or anywhere in between) reaction anyone may have to any given vaccination. The government has taken steps to provide vaccine manufactures as well as doctors protection from liability due to any vaccine injury you may incur.

I’ll end with this quote from an article in Forbes encouraging parents to be introspective regarding “anti vaccination alarmists”, “Who told you to be afraid? Trace the path straight to the toxic root of your fear. Then ask yourself: How do the people telling you to panic stand to benefit from those who buy what they’re selling?” Knowing what you know now, I hope you will indeed ask yourself: Who stands to profit?